


a call to motion

by thewriterofperfectdisasters



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Auguste (Captive Prince) Lives, M/M, jealous!auguste, jealous!nik, laurent and damen are just swanning around in the background being In LoveTM, lowkey exhibitionism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 09:46:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19293229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriterofperfectdisasters/pseuds/thewriterofperfectdisasters
Summary: Auguste narrowed his eyes and sat in the same chair as last night, sipping his drink in a way that might be misconstrued as maybe a little dark and suspicious.And then a pet landed in Nikandros’ lap. Petite, blond, and wearing a pair of golden booty shorts. And Nikandros, without even seeming to think about it, put his hand on the pet’s waist to steady him.The pet preened. Auguste did not.





	a call to motion

**Author's Note:**

> yeehaw guess who's on BREAK from UNIVERSITY!! it's me!! i am!! so here i present: this. it's 3am, i don't know if it makes sense or whatever and all errors are definitely my own!!!
> 
> shout out to kodie who is entirely at fault for this (but like, i went along with it, so it's at least 3% my fault too)
> 
> title from movement by hozier~

‘He’s taking forever!’ Auguste yelled, slamming Laurent’s door behind himself.

‘Who is?’ Laurent asked, turning to look at his brother with a frown. ‘Your latest crush?’

‘It’s not a crush, thank you,’ Auguste said, throwing himself onto the chaise. ‘It’s a… flirtation.’

‘A flirtation?’

‘Yes. We’re only in the same city every like, six months.’

Laurent hummed. ‘Wait, who is this?’

‘Nikandros, you know him, right? He’s one of the advisors to Damianos. Always in the posse that floats around with him. Kyros of Delpha, I think.’

‘Oh, Nik,’ Laurent nodded. ‘Yes, we’ve met.’

‘I know you have, you’re engaged to his best friend.’

‘A best friend who is _here_ ,’ Damen said, before making a low noise as Laurent shifted on his legs, ‘so can you not do this right now?’

‘My brother is having a crisis,’ Laurent said, leaning forward to kiss his chest. ‘Give us a moment.’

‘Laurent, we’re in the middle of something here –’

‘Oh please,’ Auguste said, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. ‘I’m in a separate room, I’m looking at the ceiling, it’s fine. You’re following an ancient Veretian tradition.’

‘What?’

‘He’s talking about consummating marriages in the presence of the council,’ Laurent said. ‘They stopped that about a hundred years ago, we’re fine.’

‘Oh, thank the Gods,’ Damen muttered. ‘Still.’

‘I’ll make you a deal,’ Auguste said, blithely ignoring a muffled groan from one of the two on the bed. ‘I’ll leave if you tell me what the fuck Nikandros’ deal is.’

‘That’s really something you’re gonna have to _fff-_ figure out yourself,’ Damen replied.

‘Akielon courting practices are much different than Veretian ones,’ Laurent added. ‘If that helps.’

‘No, not really,’ Auguste sighed, pushing himself off the couch and holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the other part of his brother’s chambers. ‘I’ll leave you to it. Thanks for the insight.’

‘Good luck!’ Laurent said cheerfully, laughing quietly as he did something to draw another noise from Damen.

‘I did tell you he was occupied,’ Lazar said, as Auguste closed his brother’s door behind himself. ‘Highness.’

‘Yeah, well, it was an emergency,’ Auguste said, heading down the corridor, Jord at his heels. ‘Jord, do you know where Nikandros will be at the moment?’

‘Likely his chambers,’ Jord supplied. ‘Less likely, in one of the sitting rooms.’

‘Any other options?’

Jord hesitated a moment before saying, ‘I was talking with Lazar, and he has a… _thing_ with one of the Akielon guards, who said he’d be accompanying Nikandros to one of the pet parlours either tonight or tomorrow to have a discussion with Lord Berenger, I believe.’

‘Why was that not the top of the suggested places list?’ Auguste huffed. ‘Find out which one.’

‘Am I permitted to make a few brief enquiries?’

‘Of course. Find where he is.’

Jord nodded and whipped out his phone to begin making calls. A few minutes later – ‘He’s in the Blue Room.’

‘The Blue Room?’ Auguste repeated, narrowing his eyes.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Then we go to the Blue Room.’

***

Creatively named, the Blue Room was a rich, indulgent parlour in the palace. It was where the lords who still had dalliances with pets tended to socialise, or where one went to find a partner for the evening. Auguste didn’t particularly like it, finding the tradition outdated and a little weird, but Vere was Vere, and Vere loved traditions.

The main room wasn’t small, but certainly not the largest in the palace, filled with plush lounges and chairs, a series of chambers connected tangentially through doorways, with a couple of smaller, curtained off areas on the sides for those who simply couldn’t wait until they were back at their chambers. Every time Auguste had come here, the rooms were all occupied. He tried not to think too hard about it.

Auguste looked around to find Nikandros and Berenger once he arrived in the main area, but couldn’t see them. He didn’t want to look _too_ keen – he did have some game, after all – so he grabbed a drink at the bar and wandered through, politely ignoring the tentative advancements of a few unpaired pets who lingered around the room.

Finally, Auguste spotted Nikandros and Berenger, deep in conversation, as Berenger’s pet, Ancel, engaged in a loud conversation with one of the others nearby.

Auguste found an empty chair and sat stiffly on the cushion, despite knowing there was probably nothing unsanitary on it. Probably. Hopefully not. He’d heard the pet parlours were regularly deep cleaned, and he wasn’t sure if that made him feel better or worse about his current situation.

He sipped his drink – vodka, because he felt like he needed it in this room – and eyed the room cautiously, pausing to drag his eyes over Nikandros at each pass.

Eventually, he gave up pretending to be interested in the rest of the room and just relaxed into the chair and watched him.

He didn’t know what it was about Nikandros that seemed to have captured his attention like this. Or rather, he did. It was more that he just didn’t want to deal with it.

Nikandros was… well. Obviously very attractive, but it was more than that – he was smart, and witty, and funny, and he made meetings between Vere and Akielos considerably less boring, just by being in the room.

So maybe it was a bit of a crush, but Auguste didn’t want to admit that to Laurent, who somehow, had managed to secure his own Akielon much faster than anyone had anticipated. (That was, of course, until Auguste had found out recently that Damen had slid into Laurent’s Instagram DMs with a very unsmooth pick up line, and things had spiralled from there.)

Anyway, absolutely nothing happened that night, and Auguste left a few minutes after Nikandros did, both of them alone, but one coming away much more satisfied from their dealings in the Blue Room.

It was the next morning at breakfast that Laurent sidled up to him and into the chair beside him at the small table in the kitchens.

‘Morning,’ Laurent said, coffee in one hand, croissant in the other. ‘How was your night? Fulfilling?’

‘In which way?’ Auguste asked, prodding the blueberries in his breakfast parfait.

‘You know which way.’

‘Very unfulfilling. Empty,’ Auguste said, shooting his brother a look as he choked a little on his food. ‘You’re so immature.’

‘I’m immature?’ Laurent scoffed attractively around a mouthful of croissant. ‘My night was at least _very_ fulfilling.’

‘Oh Gods, Laurent, really? Too much.’

‘Auguste, you literally walked in on how fulfilling my night was.’

‘I’m going to personally have you killed.’

‘You can’t do that, I’m royalty. It’s treason.’

‘You’re younger than me, it’s self-preservation.’

Laurent narrowed his eyes and sipped his coffee angrily, if such a thing was possible. Which, apparently, it was. ‘Fine, whatever. Damen and I will see you at the meeting in an hour.’

‘There’s a meeting in an hour?’ Auguste asked.

Laurent shrugged. ‘Kinda.’

‘That’s not an answer you can half-ass, Laurent.’

‘Yes, it is. See you in an hour in the gardens.’

Auguste flicked a blueberry at his brother as he stood. ‘That doesn’t sound like a very official meeting.’

‘Never said it was official. One hour by the Frog!’

***

The Frog was a very interesting statue. It was, indeed, a frog. The interesting part was why the hell a past royal had commissioned it, because it was absolutely hideous and didn’t look a single thing like a frog.

However, the sight of this blemish on society was markedly improved by the sight of Nikandros, Kyros of Delpha, standing beside it in casual wear – jeans and a light shirt, the top two buttons undone – and looking resplendent in the morning sun. Damen and Laurent were there too, but Auguste wasn’t as excited about that.

‘Auguste!’ Laurent greeted, having changed from his pyjamas from the kitchen this morning, into something equally as dressed down as Nikandros. His shirt was, however, not unbuttoned as much (thankfully) but was probably one of Damen’s, if the loose fit was anything to go by.

Auguste felt duped. ‘What the fuck?’ he asked, once he was within range to use his normal speaking voice. ‘What is this?’

‘We’re going for a little trip to show our Akielon guests the highlights of a Veretian summer!’ Laurent said. ‘Exciting, right?’

‘What exactly are we going to do? Drive down to Chastillon, climb the old battlements, and try to see the ocean?’ Auguste frowned. ‘You said this was a meeting, not an off-the-books excursion.’

‘You’re dressed fine. We’re just going into the town to wander through the markets.’

Auguste looked pointedly down to his suit, then back up to where his brother was hand in hand with his t-shirt and shorts-wearing fiancé. ‘I’m going to change. I’ll meet you back here in five minutes with Jord.’

‘What? Why Jord?’

‘He’s the head of my security. I’m not even allowed to leave without him.’

‘We have Lazar and some of Damen and Nik’s guards, we’ll be fine.’

Auguste looked dubiously to where a plain-dressed Lazar was flirting with his Akielon-guard boyfriend, Pallas, and then glanced back to Laurent. ‘I’ll have Jord change to match us, and we’ll meet you back here.’

Laurent made an impatient noise, and probably rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. ‘Fine, hurry up. I want to get to the stalls before hitting the food trucks early for lunch.’

Auguste rolled his eyes and made his way back up to his chambers to change into something less conspicuous for the town.

‘Where are we going?’ Jord asked, rolling the sleeves of his shirt up a little as they made their way back to the gardens. ‘There’s nothing on the official agenda.’

‘No, there’s not,’ Auguste agreed, sighing as he cleaned the lens of his sunglasses on the edge of his shirt. ‘My brother appears to have decided to ambush me.’

Jord hummed. ‘Is this to do with last night’s activities?’

‘It would seem so.’

‘Sir, I like to think we’ve worked together long enough that I can speak plainly.’

‘Yes?’

Jord pursed his lips for a moment before continuing, having decided to forge ahead and say what he was thinking. ‘You know you don’t have to go through with your brother’s plans, right? If you don’t want to go on this trip, then you don’t have to.’

‘I do know that, thank you, Jord,’ Auguste said, slipping on his sunglasses as they emerged in the courtyard. ‘But maybe I’ll get drunk and cause a diplomatic incident by flirting with one of the Crown Prince’s senior advisors.’

‘Or, uh,’ Jord coughed. ‘More?’

‘At this point, it seems that would only be in my dreams, Jord.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘You took your time,’ Laurent greeted, pushing off from where he’d been leaning against the frog. ‘Hello, Jord.’

‘Sir,’ Jord nodded. ‘Exalted. Kyros.’

‘We ready to go?’ Damen asked, wiggling a little in his impatience.

‘Yes, let’s go,’ Laurent said, taking his hand and beginning to tug him towards the back gate.

Auguste gave a weary sigh as he and the rest of their small group followed behind. ‘Laurent, you’ve organised more than three security personnel, yes?’

‘I know the rules, Auguste,’ Laurent sang, twirling under Damen’s arm as the gate was opened for them, revealing a small army of security in plain clothes. ‘But we’re also trying to blend in.’

‘We’ll see how that goes,’ Auguste deadpanned, as they were swarmed by their security team and the lot of them started walking the service road at the back of the palace estate out to the main city.

Damen and Laurent had swanned on ahead, leaving Auguste and Nikandros trailing behind with other security staff.

‘So,’ Nikandros said, his voice warm, and his hands stuffed in his pockets. ‘Did you have a good night?’

Auguste pointedly slipped his sunglasses down. ‘Last night?’

‘I saw you watching me,’ Nikandros shrugged. ‘Find what you were looking for?’

‘What would I be looking for?’

‘A… companion,’ Nikandros said carefully. ‘A pet.’

‘I don’t like pets. Most of them are only after status and the gifts afforded to them.’

‘Lord Berenger seems to genuinely like his.’

‘He does. I think he and Ancel have a slightly different arrangement.’

‘Is he not a pet?’

‘At this point, I don’t know what’s going on there,’ Auguste shrugged, ‘not that it’s any of my business.’

Nikandros hummed, and they walked in silence for a few moments, before he asked, ‘Why were you there? If not to find an evening’s entertainment?’

‘I was perfectly entertained.’

‘ _Were_ you watching me?’

Auguste didn’t reply, just took his phone from his back pocket and checked the notification he’d felt.

A text from Laurent: _how’s it going 😎😎😎_

His reply: **fuck 🖕🏻 off 🖕🏻 traitor**

‘I’m not a very interesting source of entertainment,’ Nikandros continued. ‘Not to watch from a distance, at least.’

Auguste nodded. ‘Apologies, I was just…’

‘You don’t need to apologise,’ Nikandros said, turning to give him a brief smile, before they came to a stop behind Damen and Laurent at the service exit.

‘The market, you said?’ Auguste asked, addressing his brother. ‘And then food trucks. No other hidden agendas?’

‘Nope, I promised Damen we could go find some candied almonds,’ Laurent said.

‘And I promised Nik a friendship bracelet,’ Damen added, quietly fist-bumping Nik over the Veretians’ heads.

‘Alright, sure. Royal permission granted,’ Auguste said, waving them ahead.

‘You’re not the only royal in this group,’ Laurent reminded him. ‘Orlant, to the markets, please!’

Orlant, at the head of the security group, nodded and made a series of gestures of the other guards, who fanned out along the walkway, some jogging ahead to keep an eye out.

It was exhausting being corralled like this.

The walk to the markets wasn’t too bad, but the crowds had already set in by the time they got to the actual market. The stalls were open, and most were busy, with couples and families and friends all talking excitedly and swapping bits of food and delicacies they’d bought and opened already, unable to resist and save for later.

‘Almonds,’ Laurent said, nodding to a stall with a simple cream and white striped awning, plastic bags tied with ribbon scattered over the table, and a large chalkboard sign behind the stallholder, showing pricing.

Laurent and Damen had a quick talk with the vendor, a curly haired young woman with a nose stud, and handed her far too much cash for the handful of bags they took from the table.

‘Aren’t you the princes?’ the woman asked, leaning conspiratorially over the table, eyeing Auguste as well, as he surveyed her other offerings.

‘Not today,’ Laurent smiled. ‘Is it that obvious?’

‘Your security isn’t as subtle as they’d like to think they are.’

‘I know,’ Laurent agreed. ‘Can you keep the secret, though?’

She grinned and tapped her nose. ‘Sure thing, Laurent.’

Laurent winked and tapped his back, as Damen grabbed a bag of almonds from him and ripped into it. ‘You’re ridiculous,’ he said, taking the bag from him to more delicately take some out. ‘These are the best candied almonds, by the way. Do you have an Instagram?’

Auguste smiled a little and picked up a bag of salted caramel popcorn. ‘Sorry about him,’ he said, handing over some cash to the woman. ‘He doesn’t get out much.’

‘No, but I’m always out,’ Laurent said, high-fiving Damen as they headed to another stall.

‘It’s cool,’ the woman replied. ‘You know, you can take another bag of that popcorn if you want.’

Auguste glanced over to where Nikandros was frowning at Damen and Laurent’s stash of almonds. ‘Sure, thank you,’ he said, taking the offered bag. ‘Have a great day.’

‘You too!’ she said cheerily, turning to a new lot of customers that had come up behind him.

As Auguste started walking to catch up to Laurent and Damen at some stalls further down, he found himself shoulder-to-shoulder with Nikandros. ‘Here,’ he said, holding out the extra bag of popcorn.

‘Oh…’ Nikandros said, smiling as he took it. ‘Thanks.’

‘No problem.’

‘Hey, Nik!’ Damen called. ‘Come here!’

Nikandros smiled apologetically and slipped through the crowd to his fellow Akielon at a stall with braided cord bracelets.

‘Hey, would you get a friendship bracelet with me?’ Laurent asked, as Auguste joined them, Damen and Nikandros arguing over colours and patterns.

‘You want to get friendship bracelets?’ Auguste said, frowning at his brother.

‘Yeah?’

‘Why?’

‘We’re friends.’

‘We’re brothers, that’s the ultimate friendship bracelet.’

‘Cool,’ Laurent looked at the offerings and picked up a rainbow one for himself. ‘So you know I’m going to pick one _for_ you, right?’

Auguste rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses and pointed at one at random. ‘That one.’

‘Oh…’ Laurent coughed. ‘I mean, sure, but is bright pink your style? Might clash with your usual outfits.’

‘Well, find a black one, then.’

‘How about a dark green?’

‘Sure.’

‘You don’t seem very into this,’ Laurent said, sighing as he put the green back down.

‘Oh, don’t I?’ Auguste asked.

‘You’re so annoying. Fine. Here’s a black one. You’re boring,’ Laurent passed some cash to the vendor and handed Auguste his new accessory.

Usually Auguste would’ve been all over the friendship bracelets – he might be the Crown Prince of Vere, but he still liked normal things, and it was a rare gesture of sibling affection from Laurent, evidence of his good mood. He was just a little… distracted. Nikandros looked _good_ , okay? And he was happy and smiling and completely in his element, as he argued with Damen about the benefits of stripes versus rosette patterns.

‘Can you do me a favour?’ Laurent asked, successfully tying a knot in his own bracelet to secure it to his wrist.

‘Sure,’ Auguste said, holding out his arm dumbly as Laurent grabbed it and tied it quickly.

Laurent leaned in towards Auguste’s ear – it still took him a little aback to remember that Laurent was just a couple inches shorter than him, so it wasn’t a reach at all – and hissed, ‘Just fucking ask him out.’

Auguste recoiled a little and flicked his eyes to Nikandros over Laurent’s shoulder. ‘Why would I do that?’

‘Because it’s frustrating watching you dance around him, so make a damn move before I do it for you.’

‘I _can’t_ ,’ Auguste hissed back. ‘Not here.’

‘I’m not saying do it here, idiot. We both know you want to. If he’s not going to do anything, then you should.’

‘Laurent, in the grand scheme –’

‘Who cares about the grand scheme? You burst into my room last night to complain about how long he was taking to make a move. You want him _now_ , that doesn’t mean it has to be forever. Let yourself live a little,’ Laurent raised his eyebrows. ‘Yes?’

Auguste huffed and shook his head. ‘Fine. Whatever. I’m going to go find a food truck.’

‘Great, we’ll join you,’ Damen said, appearing from nowhere and slipping an arm around Laurent’s shoulders. ‘I hope they’ll have that really good chicken thing again.’

‘That thing that had the marinade on it?’ Laurent asked, as they turned for the square where the food trucks set up. ‘On the rice?’

‘Yeah!’

‘How often do you two sneak out for the markets?’ Auguste asked suspiciously.

Laurent made a noncommittal noise and shrugged, continuing his reminiscing with Damen instead.

‘If it helps,’ Nikandros said, twisting the friendship bracelet on his own wrist. ‘They’re on first name basis with most of the truck staff.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. Down in Ios, too.’

Auguste gave a weary sigh. ‘Do they at least take security in Ios?’

‘I’m usually with them.’

‘That’s not an answer I particularly like.’

Nikandros laughed, and Auguste’s stomach twisted a little. ‘Of course, it isn’t. You should try living a little someday.’

‘Sorry I like protocol.’

Nikandros hummed. ‘You remind me of Damen’s father, except he’s given up making Damen utilise an entire team of guards.’

‘Has he?’

‘He’s lucky if Damen takes two with him. Usually it’s just him and Pallas.’

‘Should Laurent be jealous?’ Auguste asked, half-joking.

‘I think anyone paying attention can tell you the answer to that,’ Nikandros shrugged. ‘Damen is completely devoted to him, and he’s more likely to jump in front of Laurent to take a bullet than half the staff you employ.’

Auguste pursed his lips and watched Laurent and Damen swinging their joined hands as they paused to find the food truck they were after. ‘Am I being too paranoid insisting on entire teams?’

‘Maybe a little,’ Nikandros nudged him. ‘I’m gonna try that rice thing they were talking about.’

Auguste nodded and followed him after a few moments – he wanted to admire the view. Sue him.

***

‘Sir, he’s – _Highness_ – they’re really not –’

‘Lazar, it’s fine. He’s expecting me,’ Auguste frowned as Lazar stepped in front of him to block the door to Laurent’s chambers.

‘No,’ Lazar said firmly. ‘No, trust me. You don’t want to go in there.’

‘I need to speak with –’ Auguste stopped as there was a loud thud against the wall beside the doors. He looked at the doors, then to Lazar, and made a noise. ‘I don’t need to talk to him. Never mind.’

‘Good choice. We’ll tell them you stopped by.’

‘No rush,’ Auguste said, sending another glance to the doors as they shook violently. ‘I’ll, uh. Go.’

‘Take me with you,’ Lazar said mournfully, as Auguste made a hasty retreat.

‘He’s in the Blue Room again,’ Jord said, appearing at Auguste’s elbow.

‘Who?’

‘You know who. Laurent asked me to tell you, and asked me to deliver a message.’

‘Yes?’

Jord cleared his throat. ‘Just fuck him.’

Auguste stopped and raised his eyebrows at Jord. ‘Excuse me?’

‘His words, not mine!’

Auguste contemplated for a few moments and came to a decision. Fuck it. Make a move, right? They’d spent the rest of the morning, and much of the afternoon, wandering around the town with Damen and Laurent, making conversation and having a generally nice time. Auguste had thought Nikandros had been sending a few hints, but neither of them had done much more than… that. The Akielon contingent was due to leave in the next few days, so he should really make the most of the time left, right?

Right.

‘Blue Room?’

‘Yes, sir.’

Auguste let out a steady breath. ‘You don’t need to accompany me, Jord. You can have the night.’

Jord nodded. ‘Have a good evening, sir.’

‘I’ll certainly try,’ Auguste muttered, as he and Jord parted ways.

He kept his nerves internal for the most part, only evident in the speed it took him to get down to the parlours. The room was at about the same capacity as yesterday, and Auguste picked up another glass of vodka as he scanned the room for Nikandros.

He was talking to Berenger again, but more relaxed than last night. Maybe they were just having a drink today, not conducting business. Ancel was perched on the couch beside Berenger, almost melted over his side and into his lap, twirling hair around one of his fingers as he laughed with them.

Auguste narrowed his eyes and sat in the same chair as last night, sipping his drink in a way that might be misconstrued as maybe a little dark and suspicious.

And then a pet landed in Nikandros’ lap. Petite, blond, and wearing a pair of golden booty shorts. And Nikandros, without even seeming to think about it, put his hand on the pet’s waist to steady him.

The pet preened. Auguste did not.

He put his drink down and drummed his fingers against his knees. He knew he had almost a reputation here as someone who wouldn’t take pets, even though he’d been told by several different people that his doing so would be perfectly acceptable. If he was still concerned, NDAs could be arranged.

Auguste was almost glad that the pet approached him, instead of him having to fight through his own discomfort and do it instead.

‘Evening, Highness,’ a lithe, caramel-haired pet greeted. ‘Can I do anything for you at all?’

Auguste glanced up, and unable to help himself, looked quickly back to Nikandros, and then away to his hands. ‘Perhaps.’

The pet followed his gaze and smiled. ‘I can help you with that.’

‘In what way?’

‘Whatever way you need me to,’ the pet said, watching Auguste cautiously as he made to sit on his lap. ‘If that’s what you want.’

Auguste raised an eyebrow, but made no move to stop him. ‘Bold of you.’

The pet grinned, arranging his limbs delicately to create a show for anyone watching them. ‘Relax,’ he whispered, sliding one hand down Auguste’s chest, as he arched to put his mouth closer to Auguste’s ear. ‘You’re not acting natural or interested.’

‘Don’t take it personally,’ Auguste murmured, wrapping an arm around the pet’s waist, resting his hand on his hip.

‘I’m not,’ the pet replied, resting one leg over the arm of the chair. ‘Touch me.’

‘What?’ Auguste turned to look at him. ‘I can’t do that.’

‘You can. Is he looking yet? The Akielon?’

Auguste slid his eyes over to Nikandros, who was holding himself much stiffer than before, and was paying almost _too_ much attention to Berenger. ‘Not actively looking.’

‘Can I change that?’

‘I don’t know, can you?’

The pet hummed and touched his lips to Auguste’s jaw, dragging them up and down, pausing at Auguste’s ear to repeat, ‘Touch me, your Highness.’

Auguste shivered, and moved his free hand to the inside of the pet’s leg, moving it slowly down the inside of his thigh. ‘Better?’ he asked quietly.

‘Yes, sir,’ the pet agreed, shifting to open his legs a little wider. ‘The Akielon?’

Auguste lifted his eyes from the pet to Nikandros across the room. He was watching them now. ‘He’s looking.’

‘Move your hand in further,’ the pet instructed, moving his lips down Auguste’s neck. ‘Don’t take your eyes off him.’

Auguste paused for a moment. ‘Are you okay with that?’

‘Yes. If I’m not going to get laid tonight, I can at least make sure you do. Move your hand.’

He moved his hand. He watched Nikandros as he traced his fingertips back up to the pet’s knee, then dragged his palm back in, across the inside of his thigh and onto the slick black at the centre of the pet’s gauzy outfit.

‘That’s good,’ the pet arched his back, pushing his hips into Auguste’s hand, chasing it as he moved it back and forth slowly. ‘Akielon?’

‘Still watching, maybe a little jealous.’

The pet hummed and pulled his hand from Auguste’s chest to lightly touch his jaw, turning his face a little towards him. ‘I could kiss you.’

‘I’m sure you could.’

‘May I?’

A kiss didn’t mean anything. Auguste had kissed plenty of people, but – ‘Not the mouth.’

The pet lifted his hand, thumbing Auguste’s bottom lip and biting his own making a show of it as he pushed his hips against Auguste’s hand again. ‘I could fake it, use my hand to –’

‘Auguste.’

Auguste looked up from the pet to see Nikandros towering over him. ‘Kyros,’ he greeted. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘May I have a word?’

‘Here?’

‘No, not here,’ Nikandros looked to the pet. ‘Excuse us?’

The pet raised an eyebrow, but extracted himself from Auguste, before winking at him from behind Nikandros’ back, as he wandered to an adjoining room of the parlour.

‘Auguste, if you wouldn’t mind,’ Nikandros said, gesturing to the hall and exit of the parlour.

Auguste stood and brushed body glitter off the front of his pants. ‘What can I do for you?’ he asked, following Nikandros past the smaller, curtained off areas.

Nikandros stopped at one and yanked open the fabric. No one was in there. ‘May I have a word?’

Auguste huffed and stepped in, surveying the large bench and its array of cushions. ‘Do you know what usually happens in here?’

Nikandros looked him up and down slowly before meeting his eyes. ‘Yes.’

‘And?’ Auguste asked, like it was a challenge.

Nikandros closed the curtain.

**Author's Note:**

> stay tuned lads, i'm gonna be writing a Lot while i have the time. (four weeks, in fact. im so excited.)
> 
> keep in the loop by following me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/daamiaanos) or [tumblr](http://damiaanos.tumblr.com)!


End file.
